(Newser)
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The first presidential debate was a busy night for the fact-checkers—who were asked to "get to work" by Hillary Clinton after Donald Trump said she had been fighting ISIS her "entire adult life," the Los Angeles Times reports. ISIS, in fact, first emerged in 2004 as al-Qaeda in Iraq, meaning Clinton could not have started fighting the group when she was an 18-year-old at Wellesley College in 1965. Some other contentious claims, from both sides:

Trump: "I was endorsed by ICE." Trump was not endorsed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which as a government agency, can't endorse anybody, though he was endorsed this week by a union of ICE employees, reports Politico.

Trump: Clinton called the Trans-Pacific Partnership the "gold standard' of trade deals and the "finest deal" she had ever seen. Clinton did indeed say the deal "sets the gold standard" and praised it on many other occasions, though there's no record of her calling it the finest deal she'd ever seen, ABC News reports.

Clinton: "Donald says climate change is a hoax created by the Chinese." Trump denied having said this, but he was proved wrong by a tweet he made in 2012.

Trump's claim to have been against the invasion of Iraq. The Washington Post takes a close look and finds there's nothing in the public record to support it: He told Howard Stern "Yeah, I guess so" in September 2012 when asked if he supported the invasion. He does, however, say he told Sean Hannity he was against the war in what were apparently private conversations.

Trump: NAFTA is "the worst trade deal" in American history. According to the New York Times, the North American Free Trade Agreement was not a "big deal in economic terms," largely because trade with Canada and Mexico doesn't make up a huge portion of American economic activity.

Clinton: Under the current mayor, crime in New York City "has continued to drop, including murders." The murder rate actually rose the year after Bill de Blasio became mayor in 2015, Politico reports, though it has fallen again so far in 2016, according to NYPD statistics.

Trump: "My father gave me a small loan in 1975." Clinton says Trump received $14 million in loans from his father, which is the figure that appeared in a 1985 financial disclosure document, the New York Times notes. Trump's father acted as guarantor on his early project and loaned him $1 million in 1978, which works out to $3.7 million in today's dollars, according to the Guardian.

would be nice if fact checkers were scientific, and not partisan and opinionated..

Winston_Smith

Sep 28, 2016 6:02 AM CDT

I was amused to see that both candidates have picked up the same technique of telling the biggest whoppers about a subject his/her adversary prefers not to dwell on. Trump's claim to have opposed the Iraq war is laughable, but Hillary doesn't want to remind people that she supported it herself, so she seemed to let it slide. Conversely, the idea that birtherism is inherently racist is almost as silly, but there's really no defending having made such an idiotic claim in the first place, so Trump mostly gave her a pass on that one.

CCXVI

Sep 27, 2016 9:14 PM CDT

Facts to check: 1. Vince Foster Scandal. Vince Foster, a childhood friend of Bill Clinton who worked closely with Hillary in the 70’s, joined the Clinton administration as deputy White House counsel. In July of 1993, he was found dead in his Virginia Park home from a single gunshot wound, with official reports labeling it a suicide. However, many close to Foster cited the Travelgate controversy as a trigger for Foster’s worsening depression. Staffers also recall another incident, a week before Foster’s death, in which Hillary openly ridiculed Foster in a White House meeting. Others speculate that Foster simply ‘knew too much’ about the Clinton’s operations, as he wrote in a suicide note: "The public will never believe the innocence of the Clintons and their loyal staff… in Washington… ruining people is considered sport." 2. Travelgate Scandal. Just a few months after Bill Clinton entered the White House, the well-known Travelgate scandal ensued. In the spring of 1993, seven White House employees were fired for questionable accounting practices. Apparently Hillary knew all about the firings way before they actually occurred, and may well have played a part in them. It’s alleged that the firings were meant to cover up questionable resource allocation and other ‘favors’ from within the White House Travel Office, with which Hillary was directly involved. 3. Email Server Scandal. During her tenure as Secretary of State, Hillary sent emails via a private server from her New York residence. This, in and of itself, is against protocol due to several security reasons. However, as it was deemed a ‘personal’ server, her team was able to first sort through her emails, and determine which she was to turn over to the State Department. When the State Department concluded its investigation, FBI Director James Comey confirmed that Hillary sent several ‘classified’ and ‘top secret’ emails from her private server, which may or may not have been intercepted by foreign hackers. She claimed she never used her personal email to send or receive "classified" information, but no one is sure of the real truth about this scandal. 4. Paula Jones Scandal. Paula Jones was a government worker in Arkansas, who alleged she was sexually harassed by Bill Clinton when he was a governor there. She filed a suit in 1994 looking for just under a million dollars in damages, although the case was settled out of court. Many years later, in 2015, the same Paula Jones told reporters that she believed that Hillary Clinton knew all about the sexual harassment, yet did nothing and simply covered up for her husband. 5. FBI Background Scandal. After the Clinton administration was found to have more than 700 FBI background reports on rival Republicans, all sorts of questions were raised. One big question was that of the director of the Office of Personnel Security, Craig Livingstone, and how he came to have such a high-profile job. As the story goes, Hillary pushed for him to get the job, as she was good friends with his mother. 6. Norman Hsu Scandal. For those of you who don’t know, Norman Hsu was a huge contributor and fundraiser for the Democrat party during Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign of 2008. He was the man who collected contributions to the party, from a variety of "sources" and went a long way to promoting Hillary. However, Clinton was left with egg on her face when it turned out that HSU was a criminal, and more than that a fugitive, who had been scamming people and businesses for many long years. 7. Jorge Cabrera Scandal. Jorge Cabrera was a supported of the Democrats in the mid-90s and even wrote them a personal check of $20,000. During that time he was even seen in pictures, taken by the press along with the then-First Lady. However, just a few short months later and Cabrera was arrested in a drug bust in Miami, and was given 19 years behind bars. 8. Sniper Fire Scandal. When she was First Lady, Hillary went on an official visit to Bosnia to meet with American troops stationed there. On her return, she told the press that she had herself come under sniper fire and could have been killed at the airport when she arrived. Just one week later, Hillary took back those comments claiming she had "made a mistake" in the recounting of what actually happened. 9. Monica Lewinsky Scandal. Everyone remembers the relationship between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. Although an intern at the time, she and Bill entered into a physical relationship in the White House. When confronted with allegations, Hillary completely denied everything, defended her husband, and even went on record saying that the whole thing had been a "vast right-wing conspiracy." 10. 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Scandal. When the Clinton administration handed over the keys of the White House to the incoming Bush administration, allegations of "damage, theft, vandalism and pranks" were in abundance. When the Clinton’s moved from the White House to their New York home they allegedly took items from the White House which they shouldn’t have, totaling a shocking $190,000. The couple ultimately returned the items, but the scandal lived on. 11. Whitewater Scandal. Whitewater is the generic term for a bunch of scandals attributed to the Clintons. For example, they purchased a few hundred acres of land with their personal friends Jim and Susan McDougal along the White River in the Ozarks. That deal failed and many shady business dealings came out. This scandal led on to the Lewinsky scandal and was seen as "the first domino" that plagued the Clintons for years to come. 12. Clinton Foundation Scandal. Many people have heard of the Clinton Foundation, which was set up by Bill after he left the White House. The foundation was meant to be a nonprofit operation and was set to deal with issues like global warming and climate change. Many alleged at the time that the Clintons used the foundation to forward their own personal agendas. It culminated in allegations of back handers and dodgy dealings which prevail to this day. 13. Benghazi Scandal. This is one of the most famous scandals that Hillary Clinton found herself embroiled in. Back in 2012, four Americans were killed during attacks on a US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, including the then-Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Hillary Clinton’s conduct as Secretary of State was bought into question due to her various email accounts and the way she used them. 14. Cattle Money Scandal. This scandal dates back to the 1970s when Hillary Clinton made a tidy profit of $100,000 trading on the cattle futures market. She was in cahoots with a personal friend at the time who worked for Tyson Foods Inc. Apparently, according to a New York Times article from 1994, Tyson Foods received $9 million in government loans, deeming the whole sage very unsavory and questionable. 15. 2016 DNC Scandal. Thousands of emails leaked on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, implicated Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former chairwoman of the DNC, in actively working to sabotage Hillary Clinton’s Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders. These attacks included targeting Sanders’s religion, painting Sanders’ campaign as "disorganized," and mocking his push for a debate in California, among others. Perhaps a normal politician would distance themselves from and individuals of such disrepute; but Hillary is no ordinary politicians. She offered her "longtime friend" a prominent position on her campaign following her forced resignation. 16. Clinton Speeches Scandal. It’s not just Bill who made a packet for giving 45 minute speeches at various institutions, but also daughter Chelsea, and of course, wife Hillary Clinton. While Chelsea’s standard fee in 2014 was around the $65,000 mark, Hillary reported a personal income of a staggering $11 million for a total of 51 speeches she gave in just a year.